Shocking Atrocity! Unknown Vandal Sets Beehives in Texas on Fire, Causing The Largest Bee Apocalypse The Lone Star State Has Ever Seen

The Police have launched a massive manhunt for an unknown arsonist, who set fire to or destroyed over twenty beehives at the small town of Alvin, just south of Houston, Texas, USA, CNN reports.

The devastated hives belong to members of the Brazoria County Beekeepers Association, who found the remains of what had been 24 colonies at the site on Saturday (April 27th) in the morning.

One of the affected beekeepers said the losses are truly staggering.

“We’re looking at 500,000 to 600,000 (bees) that have been destroyed out of that environment,” Steve Brackmann, who sells beekeeping supplies and queen bees, told CNN affiliate KTRK.

Brackmann points out that the tragic loss of the bees is going to have serious consequences for the local environment. The current man-caused disaster adds to the fact that populations of bees across the USA are declining because of the use of insecticides.

“Tomatoes, squash, watermelons, bees pollinate those,” he said. “So if bees don’t pollinate those, you get zero vegetables, we would see next to nothing in the vegetable stores,” the farmer went on.

The tragedy also struck as the honey season in Alvin is just getting underway. One beekeeper said he lost all the honey he expected to sell at farmers’ markets this summer.

The group is asking for donations to help rebuild the hives and acquire new honeybees, but the process may take well over a year. Their Facebook page is Brazoria County Beekeepers Association.